The Real Indiana Jones: Finding the World’s Oldest Subway Tunnel

Manhattan’s Second Avenue Subway has been in the pipeline for more than 75 years, the complaints resurface almost every year as the program inches forward. But the Second Ave Subway isn’t the only line that time forgot. The world’s oldest subway line is just a few miles away.

In 1980, Brooklyn local Bob Diamond, discovered the subway tunnel under Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn. Unlike the Second Ave Subway, this tunnel built in 1844, only took seven months to complete the half-mile long section with hand tools.

Bob’s commitment and passion for his find has caught the eye of the National Geographic documentary team who are due to begin a program to unearth the myth of a train buried at the end of the tunnel.

As the ultimate go-to man for anything related to the tunnel and its history, Bob now runs regular tours down the tunnel. But it is his story of how he found the tunnel, after dropping out of college, and following a clue in a book, that fascinates all those who venture down the dark, damp tunnel…